The murder of innocence

THE killing of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor gives a cruel picture of the life that can await new arrivals to this country. By all accounts, he was a cheerful, well-behaved boy, who got up early before the rest of his family to prepare his books for the day ahead. Apparently Damilola, who arrived in Britain from Nigeria three months ago, had, like other children in his school from places as far-flung as Bosnia and Sierra Leone, settled in wonderfully.

But good behaviour and a pleasant disposition are no barriers against evil-doers who have no compunction about destroying a classic image of innocence - the boy heading home, dressed in a new school uniform, satchel on his back. Even as Britain grows more prosperous, its morals decline. It is not yet clear what led the Taylors to leave Nigeria. Whatever threat they faced could hardly match the horror that met Damilola on a Peckham estate. Workmen are demolishing the estate; it will be harder to eradicate the sort of violence that flourished there.